By Zhang Handuo and Li Zengjie
BEIJING, April 20 -- On the morning of April 7, Shen Jingxian, an active serviceman assigned to a PLA unit stationed in Henan Province, successfully donated 225ml hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) suspension at the Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University in Shijiazhuang, capital city of Hebei Province. The suspension will bring hope to a young patient suffering from blood disease.
Shen Jingxian registered with the China Marrow Donor Program (CMDP) as a potential HSC donor in June 2019. In October 2021, when he learnt that the initial HSC match between him and a patient was successful, he signed without any hesitation the informed consent to donate his HSC.
Shen's family supported his decision firmly.
"My father is a doctor and has been registered with the CMDP for over ten years. He told me that the possibility of successful HSC match between non-family members is pretty low, usually 1 in 400 to 10,000, and for certain rare HLA type, the coincidence rate is only one in tens of thousands or even one in hundreds of thousands. Therefore, I feel much honored to be qualified for HSC donation," Shen said.
"My family members support me very much, especially my wife, who is expected to give birth to our baby in April. I am so grateful for her understanding and support," Shen added.
After the donation, Shen received a letter of thanks, reading: "Thank you for giving my daughter a second life. We will remember your loving-kindness forever and pass it forward."
"I didn’t know the recipient is a 9-year-old girl until I read the letter. Since I am going to become a father, I fully understand the significance of my donation to the girl's family. I sincerely hope she can recover as soon as possible."
As for himself, according to Shen, he just did what a serviceman is able to.
